Cowslip Wine

This recipe is from the 1861 publication of Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management.

Featured in George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss: "There were particular ways of doing everything in [the Dodson] family: particular ways of bleaching the linen, of making the cowslip wine, curing the hams, and keeping the bottled gooseberries. Funerals were always conducted with peculiar propriety in the Dodson family: the hatbands were never of a blue shade, the gloves never split at the thumb, everybody was a mourner who ought to be, and there were always scarfs for the bearers. A female Dodson, when in ‘strange’ houses, always ate dry bread with her tea, and declined any sort of preserves, having no confidence in the butter, and thinking that the preserves had already begun to ferment for want of the sugar and boiling."

INGREDIENTS

To every gallon of water allow 3 lbs. of lump sugar, the rind of 2 lemons, the juice of 1, the rind and juice of 1 Seville orange, 1 gallon of cowslip pips. To every 4–1/2 gallons of wine allow 1 bottle of brandy.

METHOD

Boil the sugar and water together for 1/2 hour, carefully removing all the scum as it rises. Pour this boiling liquor on the orange and lemon-rinds, and the juice, which should be strained; when milk-warm, add the cowslip pips or flowers, picked from the stalks and seeds; and to 9 gallons of wine 3 tablespoonfuls of good fresh brewers’ yeast. Let it ferment 3 or 4 days; then put all together in a cask with the brandy, and let it remain for 2 months, when bottle it off for use.

Mrs. Beeton suggests we pick the cowslips in the field and make this drink in April or May.

Moroccan Mint Sparkling Iced Green Tea

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Moroccan Mint Green tea bags
• 3/4 cup boiling water
• 3/4 cup apple juice
• 1/4 cup sparkling water
• Ice cubes
• Lemon, apple slices or mint sprigs, to garnish

METHOD

Steep Moroccan Mint Green tea bags in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Gently squeeze the tea bags then remove and discard. Add apple juice and sparkling water. Pour over ice. Garnish as desired with lemon, apple or mint.

Home Made Root Beer

From Hunt, Gather, Cook by Hank Shaw

When you make your root beer, start with a tablespoon of this syrup to a pint of seltzer water. You can adjust the strength of your drink from there.

INGREDIENTS

Makes 2 quarts.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

• 6 cups of water
• 3 ounces of sassafras roots
• 1 ounce of burdock root
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 clove
• 1 star anise
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 2 drops wintergreen extract or peppermint extract
• 6 cups sugar

METHOD

1. Chop the sassafras and burdock roots into small pieces, about 1/2 inch or smaller.
2. Put the roots in a medium-sized heavy pot with the clove, star anise and coriander seeds and cover with the water. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil. Simmer this for 15 minutes.
3. Add the molasses and simmer another 5 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and add the wintergreen or peppermint extract. Put the cover back on the tea.
5. When the mixture cools, strain it though cheesecloth to remove any debris.
   Return it to the pot with an equal amount of sugar. Stir to combine. Bring it to a simmer and cook it for 5 minutes, uncovered.
6. Pour into quart mason jars and seal.

Keeps a year in the fridge

Homemade Lemon Drink

From “What’s Cooking” circa 1940s

INGREDIENTS

• 4 oranges
• 3 lemons
• 4 lbs. sugar
• 2 quarts water
• 2 ounces citric acid

METHOD

Grate rind from oranges, add to sugar and water and boil for 1 minute. Add juice of lemons and oranges and the acid. Let stand for 24 hours and bottle cold. To serve, mix with water

Kudzu Cream Beverage

A recipe from The Grain & Salt Society (winter 98/99)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup cold water
• 1 rounded tsp crushed kudzu starch
• 1 umeboshi plum, pitted and minced, or 1 tsp umeboshi paste
• 1/4-1/2 tsp fresh ginger juice (finely grate ginger root and squeeze to extract juice)
• 1/2-1 tsp shoyu or soy sauce

METHOD

In a small saucepan, thoroughly dissolve kudzu starch in water. Add umeboshi and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently. When the mixture begins to bubble around the edges, stir continuously until kudzu thickens and becomes translucent. Gently simmer 1-2 minutes, then remove from heat. Add ginger and shoyu (if desired) to taste.

Masala Chai Tea

A recipe from Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey

INGREDIENTS

• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1 inch stick of cinnamon
• 8 cardomom pods
• 8 whole cloves
• 2/3 cup milk
• 6 tsp sugar (or to taste)
• 3 tsp any unperfumed loose black tea

METHOD

1. Put 1-1/2 cups water in saucepan. Add the cinnamon, cardomom, and cloves and bring to a boil.
2. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the milk and sugar and bring to a simmer again.
3. Throw in the tea leaves, cover, and turn off the heat. After 2 minutes, strain the tea into two cups and serve immediately.

Makes 2 cups

Sprout Your Own Wheatgrass at Home

Sprouting Wheatgrass (a.k.a. wheat berries, wheat grass seeds, wheat kernels) at home is easy, here’s a straight forward guide for delicious and nutritious results, borrowed from happyjuicer.com – thanks!

This guide shows you one common way to growing wheatgrass at home. Because wheatgrass isn’t frequently available in the average high street, many juicing enthusiasts look to growing wheatgrass at home. You may be able to find wheatgrass in specialist health food stores, alternatively you can buy organically grown wheatgrass online.

Soak around 500g of your wheatgrass seeds in water for 8 hours. Just before the end of the soaking period prepare a 20 × 10 inch seed tray (of around 2 inches depth) by adding about 11/2 inches of moist compost and potting mix. Try to use an organic growing medium. After soaking, drain the seeds, rinse thoroughly and then drain the seeds again.

Spread the seeds evenly over the compost mix. Add another half inch of soil your growing medium and then water the seeds using a watering can with a rose so as to give an even distribution of water. Your compost mix should be moist but not sodden. It is vital to keep your soil moist whilst the wheatgrass is growing so the tray should be watered everyday. You should then cover the tray either with moist newspaper, another tray, or plastic bubble wrap. This covering helps to keep the moisture in.

After 3 days the wheatgrass should be a couple of inches in height. You can then remove the cover off the tray and place the tray in a position where the wheatgrass will receive good amounts of indirect sunlight. You should not place the Wheatgrass in direct sunlight as this can cause drying out of the soil which inhibits growth. The sunlight will enable the sprout to produce chlorophyll which will quickly transform the yellow wheatgrass sprouts to a vivid green colour.

You should harvest when the wheatgrass is about 7-8 inches in length as this is when it is at it’s nutritional peak. To harvest your wheatgrass simply trim an a centimeter or two above the soil surface with a pair of scissors or a chefs knife. You should rinse your crop thoroughly before putting it through your juicer.

The time to harvest after you remove the seed cover is about 4-5 days but this can be increased/decreased by changing the temperature and light levels in your growing micro-climate. 65-68° F is a widely accepted temperature for growing wheatgrass in. If the temperature is too hot or the air is too humid then mould formation can occur. Some people are allergic to mould and it is also bad news for people who suffer from asthma. If mould does form in your wheatgrass then trim the wheatgrass well above the mould to avoid ingesting the mould.

If you harvest more wheatgrass then you wish to juice that day then simply transfer the excess wheatgrass into an airtight container and refrigerate. The wheatgrass should keep for a few days.

Once you are familiar with the time cycle associated with growing wheatgrass (which will differ for different climates and seasons), how much juice a tray yields,
how much wheatgrass juice you consume each day, you will be able to plan when to plant your next tray of wheatgrass to ensure that you have a constant supply of fresh grown and harvested, nutritionally packed wheatgrass that has been produced using organic methods.

Growing your own wheatgrass is also the most economical way of obtaining a regular intake of the the green wonder juice!

Stress Reducing Tea

These wonderful tea ingredients are available at Foodstuffs

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup lemon balm leaves
• 1 cup linden leaves
• 1/4 cup valarian root
• 1 tbsp dried ginger root

METHOD

• Mix all ingredients together and store in an air tight container.
• To steep your tea, place 1 Tbsp of mixture into a tea ball or reusable tea bag then pour 1 cup boiling water over tea. Let steep for 3-5 minutes.

White Citrus Iced Tea

We have a lovely selection of loose leaf white teas at Foodstuffs, any will work for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup simmering water
• 1 tablespoon white tea leaves
• The juice from 1/2 orange
• Ice cube
• Orange slices to garnish

METHOD

• Pour just-simmering water over the white tea leaves.
• Steep for five minutes, and then remove the tea leaves.
• Add orange juice and stir.
• Pour mixture into a large glass full of ice.
• Garnish with orange slices if desired.

Spice Mix for Mulled Wine or Cider

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Tbsp cinnamon bark chips (crush a cinnamon stick)
• 1 Tbsp whole cloves
• 1 Tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 Tbsp whole allspice seeds
• 1 tsp cardamom seeds (removed from pods)
• 1/2 to 1 tsp orange rind (dried)

METHOD

• To make mulled wine, pour a 750 ml bottle of red wine and 1/2 cup honey into crockpot.
• Tie 2 Tbsp of the spice mix in a piece of double-folded cheesecloth or a muslin brew-bag and add to wine.
• Simmer on crock-pot high setting for 45 minutes.

For mulled cider, as above, but omit the honey.